Chapter 289 – Part 2 – Do Eun-jeong’s Invitation

Choi Seong-min’s eyes widened.

‘Come to your house? Why so suddenly?’

When he looked puzzled, Do Eun-jeong blushed and smiled.

“Ah, please don’t misunderstand. I just want to treat you to a meal out of gratitude…”

“I didn’t misunderstand.”

“Th-then you’ll come?”

“Hmm.”

Choi Seong-min pondered.

There was no particular reason to take time to eat with a woman.

“Please don’t refuse.”

Do Eun-jeong pleaded with a tearful expression.

‘What’s her scheme?’

Choi Seong-min somehow felt there must be another reason for inviting him to her house.

“First, let’s go to the hospital after we get out of the dungeon. Doesn’t it hurt?”

“Ah, it hurts but I’m enduring it.”

Both her wrists were broken, but if she received treatment from a healer, she should recover quickly.

‘If she were a commoner, she wouldn’t even have the right to receive treatment, but since this woman is a hunter, she can get treated if she pays.’

Of course, it would cost a huge amount of money.

“Is Choi Seong-min okay?”

“I’m not as seriously injured as I look.”

He was covered in blood, but most of it was other people’s blood.

“Still, to save me with an injured body…”

Whether Do Eun-jeong looked at him with moved eyes or not, Choi Seong-min opened the conquest window to check the time.

‘Not much left.’

Soon they would fail the conquest and receive a penalty.

‘Can’t be helped. If I went and caught 80 Worwolves alone, that would be perfect for arousing suspicion.’

If he put his mind to it, he could conquer it alone, but revealing his strength might make him a suspect for murdering the team leader and supervisor.

‘Right now I need to hide my strength. To make it seem like they died to the boss.’

He would lose 1 random stat as a penalty, but he could handle that much.

‘It’s just eating one less rune.’

Shortly after, when the time came, a message appeared.

[All time has elapsed.]

[Conquest failed.]

[1 random stat will decrease as penalty.]

[Magic Power decreased by 1.]

‘Huh? Magic Power?’

His Magic Power, which he had no use for anyway, decreased from 3 to 2.

Unlike what he had been mentally preparing for, he was lucky.

“Senior, did your stat decrease?”

“Yes. My Strength decreased…”

For Do Eun-jeong, who was a swordsman, this was bad news.

[You will return to the original world shortly.]

Soon the two people in the dungeon disappeared with a flash of light.

* * *

“When exactly are they coming out?”

“The time limit is almost over…”

Team B, who had been waiting endlessly at the entrance, yawned.

“Isn’t something wrong?”

“It’s taking much longer than expected.”

When boredom was turning into worry.

“Oh? They’re out!”

The portal turned blue and two people emerged.

But the appearance of Do Eun-jeong and Choi Seong-min coming out of the dungeon was extraordinary.

“What? What happened?”

“They’re completely covered in blood?”

“Eun-jeong! What’s wrong with your wrist!”

The team members clicked their tongues seeing Do Eun-jeong’s bent wrist.

Choi Seong-min’s condition, with blood splattered all over his clothes, was also serious.

“What happened? Newbie!”

“Well… the boss appeared…”

“The boss? You mean the Red-eyed Worwolf?”

“Yes…”

“We’ll hear the details on the way, but we need to get to the hospital first!”

“But why are there only two people? Where’s the team leader?”

“I don’t see the supervisor either?”

After being confused for a moment.

The team members realized.

The reason why the two people hadn’t come out of the dungeon.

“Don’t tell me…”

“Are they dead? To the boss?”

Choi Seong-min nodded with a gloomy face.

“What’s all this commotion?”

The manager guarding the dungeon approached after hearing the noise.

“Well, you see.”

Bang Tae-man, who had the highest rank after the team leader, reported to the manager as representative.

“Th-the supervisor died?”

The manager was more shocked by the supervisor’s death than anyone else.

He had been talking with him just 4 hours ago, which made it even more shocking.

‘How could the supervisor, who’s a D-rank hunter…’

After hearing more of the story, it seemed the root of all evil was the boss that suddenly appeared.

‘Did a boss really appear?’

The manager looked at the two survivors with suspicious eyes.

Because there were cases where people killed supervisors out of rebellion and lied that it was because of a boss.

But that suspicion didn’t last long.

The two people’s combat power was too low.

‘There’s no way people with just 3,000 and 4,000 combat power could kill a D-rank hunter.’

Moreover, they said the team leader with 8,000 combat power also died, so the story about a boss appearing seemed more credible.

‘Still, I should report to higher-ups. It’s not for me to judge.’

“Can we go now? Manager? We need to get her to the hospital quickly!”

“Yes, you may go.”

The team members hurriedly got in the vehicle, loaded the injured, and headed to the hospital.

Regardless, the manager’s mind was only focused on writing a report.

‘How annoying, really. Tsk!’

* * *

Do Eun-jeong, who received treatment from a healer at the hospital, breathed a sigh of relief.

She had almost lost her life along with her wrists.

That’s why she didn’t regret paying the large sum of 50 million won.

“Is Choi Seong-min okay?”

“I’m fine. It wasn’t that serious an injury.”

Originally Choi Seong-min wouldn’t have been injured, but he had made cuts on his body just in case.

Because of that, neither the supervisor nor the team members seemed to think they were self-inflicted wounds.

‘I did have to pay unnecessary hospital bills, but compared to the money I have, this is nothing…’

Then Eom Jeong-sik looked at the two with narrowed eyes.

He seemed to have seen Do Eun-jeong caring for Choi Seong-min.

“After going to the dungeon, you two seem quite close? Is it because you went through life and death together?”

“Choi Seong-min here saved my life.”

Eom Jeong-sik’s eyes widened at the fact he didn’t know.

“What? The newbie saved Eun-jeong?”

Bang Tae-man next to him looked at Choi Seong-min with surprised eyes.

“I thought he was a guy who knew nothing about teamwork, but he had manly qualities?”

“Tell us exactly what happened, Eun-jeong.”

“Ah, well…”

Do Eun-jeong hesitated, wondering whether she should mention that she almost got raped.

‘It might make the atmosphere weird, so it’s better to hide it.’

Do Eun-jeong left out the story about the supervisor attacking her and only told Choi Seong-min’s heroic tale.

“Even though he could have escaped alone, he carried me on his back for 3 hours with his injured body. How could anyone not be moved by this?”

Do Eun-jeong smiled at Choi Seong-min occasionally while speaking.

Though Choi Seong-min was looking elsewhere.

“Wow, I thought the newbie would be nothing special, but to think he’d do such courageous acts.”

Bang Tae-man put his hand on Choi Seong-min’s shoulder.

“Honestly, I thought you were a guy drunk on your own coolness after hearing you were called elite, but now I see you’re a man with excellent mindset. Yes, from today I acknowledge you as a member of Team Crush!”

‘Who are you to acknowledge me?’

Though he was internally dumbfounded, Choi Seong-min didn’t show it and bowed his head.

“Thank you. Senior Bang Tae-man.”

“Haha, you even remember my name. A sharp guy joined us! I like it!”

Thanks to Bang Tae-man’s hearty laughter, the atmosphere seemed to liven up, but.

“Excuse me, Senior Bang. What do we do now? We don’t even have a team leader.”

Sim Seong-jin mentioning the team leader quickly dampened the mood.

“Shouldn’t Senior Bang take the team leader position?”

“Hey, Sim Seong-jin. Do you have to bring that up in a situation like this? We’re already troubled by what happened to the team leader.”

“It’s something we have to discuss eventually. Someone has to report to the Captain too.”

Since it was a valid point, Bang Tae-man didn’t scold him further.

He just held his forehead as if he had a headache.

“How did the team leader end up like that…”

“Team Leader Kwon Ho-jun was really a good person…”

The team members bowed their heads mourning the team leader’s death, but only Do Eun-jeong didn’t.

Because she knew he was trash who sold her out to the supervisor.

‘I know too, but it’s better to pretend I don’t.’

Seeing Choi Seong-min pretending not to know and bowing his head, Do Eun-jeong felt conflicted.

‘What should I do? Everyone thinks the team leader was a good person. Even Seong-min, who saved me.’

She didn’t care about others, but she hated seeing even Choi Seong-min mourning the team leader.

Perhaps that became the trigger, as Do Eun-jeong made a decision.

To reveal the truth she had been hiding.

“Seniors. Actually, there’s something I didn’t tell you.”

Do Eun-jeong calmly revealed what happened in the dungeon without adding a single lie.

“What? That supervisor bastard tried to force himself on you?”

Eom Jeong-sik trembled with anger just from hearing it.

“Yes. Everything I said is true. This wrist was also broken by the supervisor to prevent me from resisting…”

Do Eun-jeong didn’t forget to mention the team leader either.

“The team leader conspired with the supervisor…?”

“Yes. The supervisor clearly said so. That he knew everything and sold me out.”

“How could that be…”

“How could he do such inhuman things…”

For team members who thought well of Kwon Ho-jun, it was shocking.

“For me, it was fortunate that the boss appeared. Honestly, I think it’s good that those two died to the boss.”

“Sigh… The team leader, no, that bastard was talking with the supervisor about something, and he was plotting this kind of thing?”

“Come to think of it, the team leader called the newbie separately too?”

“Don’t tell me newbie, you were also involved…”

The team members’ gazes focused on Choi Seong-min.

Choi Seong-min waved both hands with an aggrieved face.

“I really didn’t know. That they were plotting such things…”

“Then what did you talk about alone with the team leader?”

“It wasn’t anything special. Just things like ‘let’s do well from now on’ and ‘trust only me and follow.'”

“Hmm, really?”

The team members’ suspicion lifted at Choi Seong-min’s aggrieved response.

Do Eun-jeong additionally defended Choi Seong-min.

“Seong-min isn’t that kind of person. If he were, he would have just left me and gone.”

“Alright, alright. We thought wrong.”

“But Eun-jeong. Why are you speaking formally to the newbie?”

“Ah, it’s still awkward to speak casually… And he’s my lifesaver.”

Eom Jeong-sik turned away with a sulky face seeing Do Eun-jeong smile at Choi Seong-min.

“But Senior Bang. Should we report this to the Captain?”

“Don’t. No matter what, the Captain is from the Association side. If we tell him, only Eun-jeong will be in trouble.”

Bang Tae-man said this and stood up with determination.

“I’ll report the situation to Hunter Yang Jo-young. I’m the senior after the team leader.”

“Understood, senior.”

Bang Tae-man, who reported to Yang Jo-young and returned, soon brought news that he would take the team leader position.

With an expression that showed he wasn’t happy at all.

“And we’re ordered to standby without hunting for the time being.”

“Why? Because we’re one person short?”

“I don’t know the reason either. We just have to do what we’re told.”

Everyone was puzzled not knowing the reason, but only Choi Seong-min could guess.

Why Yang Jo-young gave such an order.

‘Probably because an investigation is needed due to the supervisor’s death.’

The supervisor was only D-rank, but he was affiliated with the Hunter Association.

The death of a member of the Association, which was a symbol of power and the center of Eastland, was not something that could be taken lightly.

‘That’s why an investigation is needed.’

If the supervisor’s death was determined to be murder by someone rather than because of the boss?

‘They’d see it as a challenge to the Association and severely punish the suspect.’

That’s why the Association probably ordered Hunter Yang Jo-young to have everyone standby.

‘I was prepared for this. From the moment I killed the supervisor.’

Choi Seong-min knew that killing the supervisor would lead to an investigation.

‘Whether he was ordered by someone, what information he knew in advance. They’ll investigate the team members thoroughly.’

Before that, the investigation would start with Choi Seong-min and Do Eun-jeong who entered the dungeon together.

And Choi Seong-min also knew who would conduct that investigation.

‘A very high-ranking big shot will personally come. That’s what happened 10 years ago too.’

Knowing this fact, Choi Seong-min didn’t refuse Do Eun-jeong’s request to come to her house.

Because that big shot might approach Do Eun-jeong first.

“Th-this alley is quite dark, isn’t it?”

“It is.”

“I always pass through here when going home, but I’m scared someone might appear.”

“…”

“…”

Silence continued between the two walking the night streets after being discharged.

‘It’s so awkward… I should say something…’

Do Eun-jeong tried to break the awkwardness, but Choi Seong-min was lost in other thoughts.

‘I need to catch that big shot’s attention somehow and make a good impression.’

Not knowing he came with that purpose, Do Eun-jeong was busy talking about uninteresting things.

“If it weren’t for Seong-min back then, I can’t imagine what would have happened… Seong-min?”

Seeing Choi Seong-min stop walking and stare straight ahead, Do Eun-jeong followed his gaze.

‘Who is that?’

Someone with their face covered by a mask was standing blocking the path.

Do Eun-jeong was wary of the obviously suspicious appearance, but Choi Seong-min intuited it.

That the big shot had finally appeared.

That one of the 8 Heroes had finally revealed themselves.